Guglielma, garrisoned by the French. Among the feats of individual heroism, the Castilian writers expatiate most complacently on that of their favorite cavalier, Diego de Paredes, who descended alone on the bridge against a body of French knights, all armed in proof, with a desperate hardihood worthy of Don Quixote; and would most probably have shared the usual fate of that renowned personage on such occasions, had he not been rescued by a sally of his own countrymen. The French find a counterpart to this adventure in that of the preux chevalier Bayard, who, with his single arm maintained the barriers of the bridge against two hundred Spaniards, for an hour or

Such feats, indeed, are more easily achieved with the pen than with the sword. It would be injustice, however, to the honest chronicler of the day to suppose that he did not himself fully

"Believe the magic wonders that he sung."

Every heart confessed the influence of a romantic age, -the dying age, indeed, of chivalry, — but when, with superior refinement, it had lost nothing of the enthusiasm and exaltation of its prime. A shadowy twilight of romance enveloped every object. Every day gave birth to such extravagances, not merely of sentiment, but of action, as made it difficult to discern the precise boundaries of fact

31 Chrónica del Gran Capitan, lib. 2, cap. 106. - Mémoires de Bayard, chap. 25, apud Petitot, Collection des Mémoires, tom. xv. -Varillas, Hist. de Louis XII..

tom. i. p. 417.-Quintana, Españoles Célebres, tom. i. pp. 288-290. Machiavelli, Legazione Prima a Roma, let. 39, 44.

and fiction. The chronicler might innocently encroach sometimes on the province of the poet, and the poet occasionally draw the theme of his visions from the pages of the chronicler. Such, in fact, was the case; and the romantic Muse of Italy, then coming forth in her glory, did little more than give a brighter flush of color to the chimeras of real life. The characters of living heroes, a Bayard, a Paredes, and a La Palice, readily supplied her with the elements of those ideal combinations, in which she has so gracefully embodied the perfections of chivalry.33

32 Compare the prose romances of D'Auton, of the "loyal serviteur" of Bayard, and the no less loyal biographer of the Great Captain, with the poetic

ones of Ariosto, Berni, and the like.

"Magnanima menzogna! or quando d

il vero

Sì bello, che si possa a te preporre?'

ITALIAN WARS.

CHAPTER XV.

ROUT OF THE GARIGLIANO. — TREATY WITH FRANCE. - GONSALVO'S MILITARY CONDUCT.

1503 1504.

-

Gonsalvo crosses the River. Consternation of the French. Action near Gaeta. — Hotly contested.—- The French defeated.—Gaeta surrenders. - Public Enthusiasm.-Treaty with France. Review of Gonsalvo's Military Conduct. — Results of the Campaign.

SEVEN weeks had now elapsed, since the two armies had lain in sight of each other without any decided movement on either side. During this time, the Great Captain had made repeated efforts to strengthen himself, through the intervention of the Spanish ambassador, Francisco de Rojas,' by reinforcements from Rome. His negotiations were chiefly directed to secure the alliance of the Orsini, a powerful family, long involved in a bitter feud with the Colonnas, then in the Spanish service. A reconciliation between these noble houses was at length happily effected; and Bartolomeo d' Alviano, the head of the Orsini, agreed to enlist under

1 He succeeded Garcilasso de la Vega at the court of Rome. Oviedo says, in reference to the illustrious house of Rojas, "En todas las historias de España no se hallan tantos caballeros de un linage y

VOL. III. 13

18

numore notados por valerosos cabalieros y valientes milites como deste nombre de Rojas." Quincuagenas, MS., bat. 1, quinc. 2, dial. 8.

M*

the Spanish commander with three thousand men. This arrangement was finally brought about through the good offices of the Venetian minister at Rome, who even advanced a considerable sum of money towards the payment of the new levies.2

The appearance of this corps, with one of the most able and valiant of the Italian captains at its read, revived the drooping spirits of the camp. Soon after his arrival, Alviano strongly urged Gonsalvo to abandon his original plan of operations, and avail himself of his augmented strength to attack the enemy in his own quarters. The Spanish commander had intended to confine himself wholly to the defensive, and, too unequal in force to meet the French in the open field, as before noticed, had intrenched himself in his present strong position, with the fixed purpose of awaiting the enemy there. Circumstances had now greatly changed. original inequality was diminished by the arrival of the Italian levies, and still further compensated by the present disorderly state of the French army. He knew, moreover, that in the most perilous enterprises, the assailing party gathers an enthusiasm and an impetus in its career, which counterbalance large numerical odds; while the party taken by surprise is proportionably disconcerted, and ́prepared, as it were, for defeat before a blow is struck. From these considerations, the cautious general acquiesced in Alviano's project to cross the Gari

2 Mariana, Hist. de España, tom. i. lib. 28, cap. 5.- Guicciardini, Istoria, lib. 6, pp. 319, 320.-Zurita, Anales, tom. v. lib. 5, cap.

The

48, 57.— Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, tom. ii. rey 30, cap. 14, sec. 4, 5.- Daru, Hist. de Venise, tom iii. pp. 364, 365.

gliano, by establishing a bridge at a point opposite Suzio, a small place garrisoned by the French, o the right bank, about four miles above their headquarters. The time for the attack was fixed as soon as possible after the approaching Christmas, when the French, occupied with the festivities of the season, might be thrown off their guard."

This day of general rejoicing to the Christian world at length arrived. It brought little joy to the Spaniards, buried in the depths of these dreary morasses, destitute of most of the necessaries of life, and with scarcely any other means of resisting the climate, than those afforded by their iron constitutions and invincible courage. They celebrated the day, however, with all the devotional feeling, and the imposing solemnities, with which it is commemorated by the Roman Catholic church; and the exercises of religion, rendered more impressive by their situation, served to exalt still higher the heroic constancy, which had sustained them under such unparalleled sufferings.

In the mean while, the materials for the bridge were collected, and the work went forward with such despatch, that on the 28th of December all was in readiness for carrying the plan of attack into execution. The task of laying the bridge across the river was intrusted to Alviano, who had charge of the van. The central and main division of the army under Gonsalvo was to cross at the same

3 Giovio, Vita Illust. Virorum, pp. 267, 268.- Ulloa, Vita di Carlo V., fol. 22. — Guicciardini, Is

toria, tom. i. lib. 6, pp. 329, 330. - Machiavelli, Legazione Prima a Roma, let. 36.